What goes on in the player lounge couldn’t be heard outside.

The audience wasn’t aware of it.

Now all the spectators who were following the competition were dumbfounded.

Originally, Yan Xueshan was the competition favorite. Before the show started there were only four or five people between him and first place. However, everyone knew that the weakness of a sniper was close combat.

Also, though they weren’t sure if it was because of ethnicity or appearance, but Yan Xueshan looked the weakest of all the male players. No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem like he could fight in close combat.

 Even his facial expression when choosing a mecha was captured for micro-expression analysis, saying he was following the rules, but in fact, you could see the muscles on his face seemed to twitch slightly, which could be a sign of his helplessness.

So, what was Yan Xueshan himself thinking?

After he boarded Ares, the first thing he did was close his eyes and apologize silently in his heart: I’m sorry, Artemis. It will only be this one time that I will have fun with your brother.

Ares and Artemis belonged to the same series. In Greek mythology, Ares was also a God of War and killing. The mecha itself, however, was almost designed opposite from that, its design very armor-style with its whole body black. It wasn’t a simple deep black. It emitted a dark golden radiance when light shone on it.

Its main weapon was a spear, with a short cannon for firepower.

Yan Xueshan hasn’t used the spear for quite a long time. He learned to wield one when he was in school but now he had to relearn it all over again.

He was a cautious person and always prepared for the worst. What if there was no other weapon in the worst situation? Wouldn’t that be a dead end?

As for melee weapons, he was the most proficient in using the double blades equipped on Artemis and he had never been pushed deeper than that.

This time it was just a charity match.

He wasn’t obsessed with winning or losing, for him it was just fun playing with mechas and using them for some practice.

The one-hour test drive time passed in a flash.

The system reminded him that the match was about to start.

The countdown showed ten seconds.

Ten, nine, eight…

…three, two, one.

He blinked, and the scene around him changed as he arrived at the competition venue: New York City, Old Earth, Time Square.

With the night sky above him, the streets were brand new with buildings lined up, covered with neon lights, gorgeous and colorful.

In the center of the Square, a Christmas tree covered with colorful lights towered around the plaza as a children’s song rang out on the screens from all directions.

“Jingle bells~ jingle bells~ jingle all the way~
Oh, what fun it is to ride~ in a one horse open sleigh~”

The originally childlike and joyful song blaring in this deserted city made it sound weird.

The black mecha he was driving seemed to melt into the night, not quite visible, but fortunately, two beams of light shone down from the dome.

Yan Xueshan first found Lan Zephyr’s location, right in front of him, about a hundred meters away, east of the direction of the Christmas tree.

At that moment, the audience couldn’t see the two Master Sergeants in the cockpit, but they could hear their voices.

As soon as Lan Zephyr opened his mouth, he was full of vigor and joy, as if he was ready to give some winning speech after the competition. “Honey, you and Arthur aren’t married yet, right? If I win this round, how about changing your mind and marrying me?”

The audience was in an uproar, calling him out for his shamelessness.

[Wow! Shit, being a male mistress in public! Shameless! 】

[Fight up, fight up, fight up!]

【What should I do? If Yan Xueshan wins, it will be very interesting to see him fight Arthur. But if Lan Zephyr wins, he would fight his love rival Arthur which would also be very interesting. I just can’t choose, which one would be better?]

 [Why is this guy still so greasy? When he opens his mouth, he spills so much bullshit. Can we turn off his microphone? ]

[ I have a little bit of a crush on him every time he fights, but I still need to bow my head when I hear him speak. I just don’t know why so many little girls like him.]

Still, Lan Zephyr wasn’t hurt by this.

He was a well-known playboy in the Federation who loved to be the limelight. He also accepted interviews whenever he had nothing to do and after the war he even participated in talk shows everywhere.

Not many people took him seriously.

Then, Yan Xueshan opened his mouth.

He said very coldly, “No. We are already married.”

The spots of light next to him that represented the audience began to flicker wildly.

Lan Zephyr was stunned for a moment, before he responded in amazement. “What?! So fast? It’s only been a few days! I thought it was only a successful marriage proposal!”

Yan Xueshan asked, “Can we start to fight already?”

Lan Zephyr quickly came back to his senses and said with ease, “Oh, let’s start.”

Before his voice landed, the audience didn’t even have a chance to react.

 The Poseidon mecha in Lan Zephyr’s hands seemed to turn into a blue light and surged forward, Yan Xueshan just one step behind him.

The audience commented:

[Sure enough, the melee mecha is not easy for him to use.]

[Even the start is so slow…. How can he fight in it?]

As for the speed of the mechas, a hundred meters didn’t even take the blink of an eye.

Considering the size of the mecha, this particular battlefield could only be considered cramped and narrow. You needed very high technical skills to move around the gaps in the buildings. Lan Zephyr’s technique was very good and he didn’t even touch any of the buildings. However, because the speed was too fast, the air around his machine became a huge force that smashed the glass windows of the buildings he piloted past, shattering them one by one.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Immediately after that, his operation screen appeared.

[Damage to building]
[Points-1].

Lan Zephyr became confused.

During his short reaction time, Yan Xueshan had already jumped into the air, making the glass windows around him shake violently but not shatter.

Judging from the data, Yan Xueshan didn’t start late, he just used a slower speed, deliberately controlling it and keeping in mind the requirement of not damaging the buildings.

When he rose into the air, Lan Zephyr had already rushed to an empty square without buildings. He noticed that Lan Zephyr’s mecha slowed down for some reason, so he used this opportunity to attack.

Two mechas, one dark blue and one black gold, began to fight. In order to avoid damaging the building, Yan Xueshan didn’t use his spear or the short cannons, only hand to hand combat movements.

Under his control, Ares wasn’t only like a living person, but also like a seasoned fighter, with neat and crisp moves.

Lan Zephyr was completely dumbfounded.

His own level was certainly not bad, but he didn’t anticipate the current situation and was caught off guard. He didn’t adjust his mental state, which resulted in being attacked first and failing into a disadvantage.

For the time being, he could only respond hastily, rushing forwards.

Edited by: Antiope1

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